South Africa

Chronology of Coverage

Feb. 18, 2015

Conflict has arisen between United States and South Africa over tariffs that South Africa is placing on American chicken imports, leading some US officials to threaten South Africa's inclusion in Group of 20 trade partnership. MORE

Jan. 31, 2015

South African death-squad leader Eugene de Kock, who was convicted in 1996 for crimes committed during apartheid era, is granted parole in move toward reconciliation; many feel he does not deserve mercy but authorities say he has cooperated in investigations and that he has shown remorse; release date is not made public. MORE

Jan. 25, 2015

Sarah Khan Frugal Traveler column on visiting laid-back areas of South Africa on a budget. MORE

Jan. 23, 2015

Protests and looting break out in Soweto area of Johannesburg, leading to 70 arrests, after foreign shopkeeper is accused of shooting and killing 14-year-old boy who was reportedly trying to rob shop. MORE

Jan. 11, 2015

Op-Ed article by Sisonke Msimang, columnist for The Daily Maverick, observes that remarkable progress made by women in Africa has been accompanied by forceful backlash from cross-section of society; warns that backlash has started to become organized, expressing itself in decency legislation and public bullying of women; notes that in her native South Africa, women's movements have been successful in beating back attempts to undermine women's progress. MORE

Dec. 14, 2014

Rangers in South Africa kill three poachers in Kruger National Park, where two-thirds of nation's poaching deaths of rhinos occurred in 2014; demand for rhino horn is surging in parts of Asia where it is seen as status symbol and cure for illness. MORE

Dec. 11, 2014

South African prosecutors win right to appeal acquittal of Oscar Pistorius on charges of murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013. MORE

Dec. 9, 2014

Judge Jeanette Traverso acquits British businessman Shrien Dewani, who was accused of arranging for his wife Anni Dewani to be murdered on their honeymoon in Cape Town in 2010. MORE

Dec. 6, 2014

South Africa commemorates one year anniversary of death of Nelson Mandela, its first black president; country seems to cling to his memory as an antidote to intractable challenges of land whose leaders stand accused of corruption and failure to provide jobs and basic services for millions of impoverished people. MORE

Nov. 30, 2014

Nov. 12, 2014

South African police consolidate series of local graft investigations against Pres Jacob G Zuma, who has been hounded by political opposition over the use of public funds in enhancing his $23 million personal homestead; police say shift came after pressure from the opposition Democratic Alliance and other adversaries of Zuma. MORE

Nov. 11, 2014

Conrad Koch, South African ventriloquist, says that he will challenge court order intended to silence his puppet; Koch denies allegations that message from Twitter account of the puppet criticizing singer Steve Hofmeyr amounted to hate speech. MORE

Nov. 5, 2014

South African state prosecutors begin legal proceedings to appeal the conviction and 'shockingly light' sentence handed down to track star Oscar Pistorious for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp; Pistorius was acquitted of murder charges but convicted of culpable homicide. MORE

Oct. 28, 2014

National Union Metalworkers of South Africa, country's biggest labor union, says it will break with the governing African National Congress and form new socialist political party; move deals blow to coalition of labor and political forces that has dominated country since formal end of apartheid in 1994. MORE

Oct. 28, 2014

South African state prosecutors say that they plan to appeal conviction and sentence handed down to track star Oscar Pistorious. MORE

Oct. 22, 2014

South African Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa sentences track star Oscar Pistorius to five years in prison for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp; defense team notes law requires him to serve only 10 months before he can be placed under house arrest, interpretation disputed by legal experts. MORE

Oct. 19, 2014

Op-Ed article by writer Eve Fairbanks describes observing how South African black students' dissatisfaction with historically white college grew as their access to the school grew; notes that similar phenomenon is occurring in America, with minority students feeling more uncomfortable even as they have a larger presence in universities. MORE

Oct. 18, 2014

Lawyer for Oscar Pistorius makes impassioned plea to keep South African track star out of prison for killing his girlfriend; prosecution counters with a demand that he be sent to prison for minimum of 10 years. MORE

Oct. 16, 2014

Third day of sentencing hearings for Oscar Pistorius are overshadowed by disclosures that he had been making monthly payments to family of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, after shooting her to death in Feb 2013; news of the transactions are disclosed by probation officer testifying for the defense. MORE

Oct. 14, 2014

South African athlete Oscar Pistorius returns to court as his lawyers begin new struggle with prosecutors over severity of sentence he should face for his conviction of culpable homicide in shooting death of his girlfriend in 2013. MORE

Oct. 9, 2014

South African man convicted of murdering a woman on her honeymoon in Cape Town, testifies that the woman’s husband had organized the killing; appears at the trial of Shrien Dewani, businessman who was charged with murdering his wife after fighting extradition from Britain for years. MORE

Sep. 14, 2014

Serge Schmemann Quick History column reflects on events of the week, including thirteen anniversary of 9/11 attacks, Pres Obama's announcement of expansion of military airstrikes against Islamic State militants and guilty verdict in murder trial of Oscar Pistorius. MORE

Sep. 13, 2014

South African Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius is convicted of culpable homicide in shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, after being pronounced not guilty of murder the day before; many South Africans find it hard to understand verdict, with some saying it is too light. MORE

Sep. 12, 2014

Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa finds Oscar Pistorius not murder in the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp but raises the prospect of a homicide charge; Pistorius could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of culpable homicide. MORE

Sep. 7, 2014

Monthlong festival at Carnegie Hall is set to commemorate 20 years since end of apartheid with music of South Africa. MORE

Sep. 6, 2014

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama is denied visa by South African government to attend Nobel peace conference in Cape Town. MORE

Aug. 30, 2014

South African court finds four men guilty of trying to kill exiled critic of Rwandan Pres Paul Kagame, Gen Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, in case that has strained diplomatic ties between the countries. MORE

Aug. 26, 2014

South Africa's high rate of success in combating the AIDS epidemic in recent years is threatened as United States program President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief prepares to move its resources to poorer countries; plan, instituted in 2003 under Pres George W Bush, poured more than $3 billion into country, allowing it to make enormous strides in fighting the virus. MORE

Aug. 13, 2014

Pallo Jordan, veteran anti-apartheid politician and leading South African intellectual, resigns from Parliament following newspaper report that he lied about his academic credentials; Jordan, who used Dr titled but lacked PhD, issues apology to African National Congress and to nation. MORE

Aug. 10, 2014

Remains of Nat Nakasa, black South African writer who was exiled to New York after railing against injustices of apartheid, are being returned to his home country nearly half century after his death in 1964. MORE

Aug. 9, 2014

Defense concludes its arguments in murder trial of South African amputee athlete Oscar Pistorius, with his lawyers arguing that his killing of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was tragic mistake. MORE

Aug. 8, 2014

South African murder trial of Oscar Pistorius, double-amputee sprinter accused of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in fit of rage, enters decisive stage as lawyers begin two days of final arguments before handing over case to presiding judge. MORE

Aug. 7, 2014

Outcome of murder trial of South African track star Oscar Pistorius rests in hands of Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa, stern 66-year-old black woman known for meting out stiff sentences in cases of violence against women; experts say Masipa has steered trial skillfully, despite glare of live television and social media; some view her role presiding over case as remarkable circumstance just a generation removed from era of apartheid. MORE

Jul. 30, 2014

Memo From South Africa; filmmaker Tonie van der Merwe created movies exclusively for blacks, launching careers of many black actors and technicians in the 1970s and 1980s; has surprised many with a resurgence--five of his movies were recently broadcast in South Africa, government awarded him with his first prize ever for his role in bringing black actors to screen during apartheid and Durban International Film Festival showcased his first work Joe Bullet, South Africa's first film with an all-black cast. MORE

Jul. 22, 2014

Kruger National Park in South Africa is weighing plan to move some rhinos out, aiming to protect them from poachers by spreading risk to other game reserves; South Africa has 70 percent of world's rhinos. MORE

Jul. 16, 2014

Leaders of so-called BRICS group of nations that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa announce that they are establishing a development bank to challenge influence of World Bank and International Monetary Fund; New Development Bank, based in Shanghai, will open with initial capitalization of $50 billion, and India will name bank's first president. MORE

Jul. 15, 2014

Nadine Gordimer, South African writer whose literary ambitions led her into heart of apartheid to create body of fiction that brought her Nobel Prize in 1991, dies at age 90; found her themes in injustices and cruelties of South Africa’s policies of racial division, and left no quarter of the society unexplored. MORE

Jul. 11, 2014

South African authorities postpone decision on whether to parole Eugene de Kock, convicted death-squad leader known as Prime Evil whose case reflects South Africa’s long struggle to come to terms with its brutal past of apartheid. MORE

Jul. 10, 2014

Mamphela Ramphele, prominent South African veteran of the struggle against apartheid, announces that she will leave South African politics and return to her previous work in civil society. MORE

Jul. 9, 2014

Defense team for Oscar Pistorius, double-amputee track star accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, closes its case; final arguments will be heard in beginning of August. MORE

Jul. 3, 2014

Psychologist’s report read by defense at murder trial of Oscar Pistorius in South Africa, says the disabled athlete is at increasing risk of suicide without treatment for post-traumatic stress and depression brought on by the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp in 2013. MORE

Jul. 2, 2014

Peet van Zyl, Oscar Pistorius's agent, testifies at his murder trial that, even on the night before the athlete killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, he was arranging for them to fly together to a track meet in England as part of a series of trips abroad to show her 'his world'; testimony is apparently intended by the defense as evidence of a loving relationship. MORE

Jul. 1, 2014

Trial of Oscar Pistorius, disabled South African track star, resumes after psychiatric assessments that could have derailed the proceedings conclude that he was not mentally ill when he killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp; conclusion is critical since defendants deemed unable to distinguish between right and wrong can be committed indefinitely to state mental institutions. MORE

Jun. 8, 2014

Some of South Africa's ugly past comes to the stage in Nicholas Wright play A Human Being Died That Night, directed by Jonathan Munby; play charts the conversations that took place between black female psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and Eugene de Kock, former policeman nicknamed Prime Evil whose squad tortured and killed anti-apartheid activists, over a period of five years at Pretoria Central Prison. MORE

May. 27, 2014

Oscar Pistorius travels to state psychiatric hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, for the first day of mental health evaluation ordered by judge at his murder trial. MORE

May. 21, 2014

South African Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa orders Oscar Pistorius to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria, raising questions of his criminal liability; by some accounts, examinations at Weskoppies could even determine if hearings proceed at all; Pistorius faces at least 25-years in prison if he is convicted of murdering his former girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. MORE

May. 15, 2014

South African judge in murder trial of Oscar Pistorius says defendant should undergo psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he was affected by mental illness when he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. MORE

May. 14, 2014

Gerrie Nel, prosecutor in South African murder trial of Oscar Pistorious, formally applies for him to undergo a 30-day psychiatric evaluation; move follows testimony that Pistorious suffers from general anxiety disorder. MORE

May. 14, 2014

Op-Ed article by Bongani Madondo, senior editor at the South African edition of Rolling Stone, contends that election victory of African National Congress is a reminder that South Africans remain loyal to the party, despite its corruption. MORE

May. 11, 2014

South African police arrest 59 people in township of Alexandra, where protesters burned tires and barricaded roads after victory of African National Congress at polls; although ruling African National Congress remains popular with South Africa's black majority after it dismantled the apartheid system in 1994, there is rising discontent among the millions stuck in grinding poverty, without access to running water or electricity. MORE

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A report released Wednesday shows that about 60 million metric tons of food is wasted a year in the United States, a problem that contributes to climate change and to the loss of natural resources like water and land.

The parole of an apartheid-era death squad leader is a template that could one day be tested in other parts of the world plunged into deepening trauma. But it might seem improbable for someone like ''Jihadi John."